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There is even some interest around town in me giving a workshop on Kefir Soda!

Yesterday Tate and I stayed out of the office and got into the woods

Sadly it wasn’t long before we came to this

I think they are serious although it’s a little hard to tell from the blue cartoon penguin a…fish?

Oh so that’s razor wire

Yeah, they are serious. They had surveillance cameras in the trees!

So we turned around

It was great to be on my bike, I’ve been seriously neglecting it since about November. When I lived in Salt Lake City and Portland I biked many, many miles a week commuting to school than work. Everything in Charlottesville is so close I usually prefer to walk instead of haul my bike out of the basement. I do love the feeling of flying down a hill after working to get to the top though! And it C’ville biking is all about peddle-coast!

Did you like the muffins? Yeah, me too. This is why you are going to be seeing a lot more filled muffins around these parts coming up, I’ve got big ideas!

I started making these babies a few months ago and instantly fell in love. You can read about the first batch here.

For the first few batches I used Spectrum brand unrefined virgin coconut oil and they turned out amazing. Then I started making coconut butter at home in an attempt to replicate Artisana’s unbelievable deliciousness. Then I started adding cocoa and stevia to my coconut butter because…why not?

First of all, making coconut butter at home is as simple as buying unsweetened shredded coconut and throwing it in your food processor. It will eventually start to soften up and create a ball, keep processing. At this point you may need to start scrapping the sides every 30 seconds or so. It’s ready when it’s fully liquidy and drippy but it will still have a tiny bit of texture to it (unless your food processor is miraculous).

I divvy out 1 teaspoon servings into silicon mini muffin cups so it’s easier to deal with once it hardens.

I store the morsels in an empty coconut oil jar and toss a serving on top of my oats for a hit of lauric acid and yummy richness. And occasionally pop one straight into my mouth.

Back to the chocolate version. Once it’s drippy and creamy add some non alkalized cocoa, stevia, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla to the processor, mix thoroughly, taste test, adjust with more cocoa/stevia to desired sweetness. If you don’t have silicon or paper baking cups you could wait just a few minutes for it to start thickening then spoon onto parchment paper to create disks.

These chocolates are so delicious on their own that I haven’t gotten too creative with other flavors but yesterday I left out the vanilla and topped each one with the tiniest pinch of lavender salt. (Don’t have access to lavender salt? No worries, tomorrow I’ll show you how to make your own!)

Lately if chocolate doesn’t have a little salt in it than I feel like a flavor layer is missing! Love the contrast!

This can also be made with honey instead of stevia but it doesn’t harden as much.

I personally like the taste of stevia but it can certainly be a little intense. My favorite brand is SweetLeaf.

The coconut oil version is more decadent and rich tasting and recommended for special occasions but it’s actually a little easier to make, just melt and mix.

10 Comments

As soon as my jar of Artisana is gone, I’ll be making my own coconut butter. I hope it’s as easy as it sounds! I already buy shredded unsweetened coconut all the time for my granola recipe and for sprinkling on oatmeal, so it’s something that can ususally be found in my pantry at all times. Yay.

Those truffles look so good. I’m stuck at work, without any chocolate for a fix. Curses!
(Btw – totally with you on the chocolate/salt combo. Sea salted is the only kind of straight up dark chocolate I eat!).

You are a genius with the silicone cups! I have been making my own coconut butter for a couple of months now…and I dig and scrape away at the rock hard mass of coconut butter with a spoon every morning. Now I can’t wait to make a new batch. How nice it will be just to dump a little coconut butter truffle out of the jar. I wouldn’t be surprised if Artisana copied your idea!

[…] butter hardens at room temperature, but don’t let that deter you. I love Faith’s way of tackling this problem: After she makes coconut butter, she takes a spoonful of the liquid butter and lets it harden into […]

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Hi, I'm Faith! New? Check out I Am for my story, I Cook for recipes, and I Move for some motivation to get moving! I'd love to hear from you, e-mail me gracefulfitness@live.com
Header photo: Meredith Coe